The 49ers season is a disaster. They are 0-5 and are about to play a three-game stretch against the powerful NFC East. It’s probably about to get even uglier. But even during this terrible season there have been several bright spots.

Maybe none is brighter than second-year defensive lineman DeForest Buckner. He has been exceptional. I am not talking Pro Bowl level, I’m speaking All-Pro type play. If the 49ers weren’t so terrible, he’d be a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate. He has been that good.

I thought he was just OK as a rookie. But it might not have been all his fault.

Under Chip Kelly and low-level defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil, the 49ers asked Buckner to operate in a two-gap scheme. Read first, take on blockers, and then react. That is just a waste of his talent. This season, under Robert Saleh, they are asking him to do one thing — react. Get up field and make plays. When the ball is snapped, go find...